Mucking out Straw - HOW?

[Benjamin]

I have the new boy on straw. He is a pretty messy chap, but am I missing something? I can NEVER get it clean!

Anyone got any tips on how to muck out a straw bed for a dirty horse???

 

[amandathepanda]

Straw never stays looking perfectly clean for long, but the good news is that when it gets that slightly grubby look it is much easier to handle and put down a nice bed. I wouldnt survive without my long handled fork as it makes it so much easier to do my 9 stables

 

[horsegirl]

I use a shavings fork and I clear all clean first, my horse mainly uses the middle of his stable, pile all the clean in a spare corner and then scrape/scoop off any droppings, fork up and turn over and then scrape the clean off the (now) top. The take out any wet and toss all the clean and only slightly wet loads of times to mix well. Spread back over the floor TA DA

 

[fathorse]

My mare is the filthiest mare ever in her stable. How I do it is I do all of the poo first with a 'poop scoop', chuck the clean up into banks, remove the wet with a pitch fork, sweep the floor, then put bed back down. Sounds abit backwards but I find the deeper the bed the easier it is to maintain.

 

[dianchi]

My straw beds always seem to stay fresh. Letting the floor dry is really important to helping keep them clean!

 

[Benjamin]

QR - Thank you all for your tips!

Will give it a go tonight!

 

[Keltic]

My mare is the dirtiest beast ever!! she is so wet this winter i finally cracked it!! I half deep littered her, every day i took poo off and then moved clean straw off and took worst of the wet out and then re lay bed back over the top and put fresh on top and then pat it down, i fully muck out and sweep floor every 2 weeks, ive found this makes the whole bed much cleaner and easier to manage.

 

[Gorgeous George]

When I used to muck out I took out all the poo and wet using a bog standard fork, then shook through the remaining clean straw taking out any dirty bits found, I would then pile it up in a different corner each day. I would give the floor a good sweep and then swill a bit of water on the floor to refreshen it up. I would then leave the floor to dry whilst I rode, groomed, drank tea or whatever!